Everest was also conquered...

[fajrdrako]

Every muscle is aching.

See, I walked home from work. Nothing unusual about that normally. Normally it takes me about 45 minutes. Normally it's no big deal.

But today we had bizarre weather. It started out as freezing rain... Annoying, but it wasn't so difficult to walk to work. I was soaked when I got there, and it took longer than usual, but it was no big deal.

Then it got warmer and warmer. By the time I left work at 4, the city was a mess. It has been so cold, and we've had so much snow, that we had floods as it melted, and the rain kept coming down, and with the high snow banks there was nowhere for it to go. The traffic was so bad the buses were nowhere to be seen, so I set out to walk home with a bagful of laundry, and about 20 ounds of library books in my back pack.

It was a little like climbing Everest - difficult and unpredictable. You couldn't see where you were walking, because the sidewalks were under water, anything from a minimal amount to four or five inches. You'd step down and never know if you were going to step on ice, or into underwater slush, or muddy snow, or clear pavement.... Meanwhile it was raining hard, with strange bright orange sunshine beaming down. I was grateful for my waterproof Sorel boots.

I couldn't walk home my normal route, because the sidewalks on Queen Elizabeth Drive were impassible. So I went past the supermarket, and decided that I might as well buy the Christmas food today rather than tomorrow. Tomorrow, either the weather will be bad and therefore no improvement on today, or the weather will be good, and the stores will be mobbed. So I bought the food, and emerged with laundry, 20 lbs. of library books, and three bags of groceries. It must be my demented self-identification as Kara Zor-El. It doesn't stand up under scrutiny.

So by the time I left the mostly-empty supermarket, it was cold and dark. More of the ice under the water was slick and slippery and hard as rock. The water was soaking through the zipper of my boots every time I stepping into water that was more than 3" deep. The wind was picking up in heavy gusts. I was getting more and more tired... The last lap up Everest is the worst, right?

The very worst was on my doorstep. I'd got to the apartment, and had to go up a sloping laneway on sheer ice, covered with water. (How can the ground be on an upward slope and be covered with a layer of ice and a layer of water at the same time? It managed.) My left hand was occupied with three bags of groceries, my right with a bag of laundry, library books in my back-pack, so I was somewhat weighted down, didn't have a lot of lightness in my step. Forward momentum became impossible. Then there was a big gust of wind and - while I was motionless and helpless - one leg started sliding one way, the other leg slipping the other way.

I was only five feet from my own window. I wonder what the budgies thought I was doing.

Somehow I managed to get into the apartment - something between a stagger, a lurch and a glide - and seldom have I been so happy to become dry and warm. It had taken me an hour and a half to get home. Not so bad, considering I spent some time in the grocery store. It felt like three hours.

So after watching a couple of hours of extras on the Return of the King extended edition DVD, I wondered why I was aching all over. Oh. Right. That's why.

Time for bed - aspirin - and a dose of Greek history.

Love those LOTR DVDs.

Comments

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

Sounds like quite an adventure!

It's a sauna here, today. Hot, grey, wet, unpleasant.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Want to trade weather? Hot and grey doesn't sound as unpleasant as this chaos!

The consolation is that it probably won't last. Our weather has been all over the map: record cold, and then this sudden rise in temperatures. Weird.

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

I dunno... it's not nice here, but it's early summer. I can hear thunderstorms in the distance. So it'll probably be quite nice this evening. You should come visit me - specially during Autumn and Spring. It's the most beautiful time of the year and just lovely here, then.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The truth is that though our weather will probably be very changeable for a while, it's almost certain to get very cold again (and i'm talking about the forty degrees below zero wind chill range, not something that's fun to experience) before it gets warmer, so you're wise to stick with what you have. I just wish I could visit you for the next month or two, till the worst is over!

[dargit.livejournal.com]

ugh. Yes, I was out in this madness as well earlier. But I found a really neat arty place just up from Octopus books, handmade game boards and painted furniture. Very fun. The walk was terrible though, walking through deep puddles with ice on the bottom. My feet managed to be thoroughly soaked by the time I got home.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on making it home!

Is the arty place on Bank St. or on Third? Sounds like a place I'd like to browse.

Let's hope the walking is better tomorrow.

[dargit.livejournal.com]

On third. 'Square Pegs Studio Hand painted game boards & reclaimed furniture Janine Smith'

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I'll go visit it.